Cooper, Nash win US Cup Fontana round

Anton Cooper (Cannondale) soloed to victory in the second round of the US Cup Pro Series, beating Raphael Gagne, the winner of the opening round in Bonelli Park, to claim the series lead. Cooper's teammates Manuel Fumic and Marco Fontana were third and fourth, respectively.

“What a way to finish off this first part of the season,” Cooper said at the finish. “And after last week, it’s great to come away with the win. Having Manny and Marco on the podium with me makes it even better. Now, I head home and start ramping up for the World Cup.”

“Good job to Anton. He’s a super-tough guy,” said Gagne at the finish. “I felt stronger today than last week, so I’m real happy with my race. The course was great, I really liked it.”

Cooper took the hole shot for yet another strong start. Series leader Raphael Gagne (Rocky Mountain Bicycles) took over shortly afterward with Geoff Kabush (Scott 3 Rox) second wheel. Six riders would come together toward the end of the first lap: Gagne, Cooper, Kabush, Wells, Stephen Ettinger (Sho-Air/Cannondale) and Fontana.

Tiberi, Fontana and teammate Manuel Fumic joined the lead group on the second time up the road climb, making a lead group of nine, chased by a courageous Max Plaxton (Sho-Air/Cannondale), who was battling a gruesome blister on his foot.

Cooper would be the first to put in a significant attack on the third lap. Gagne bridged back up, followed by Tiberi. On lap four, Tiberi dropped from this group as Cooper and Gagne pulled away on the rolling rocky section. The leaders showed no signs of tiring, as the fourth lap was the fastest to that point. The two leaders continued to pull away, followed by teammates Fumic and Fontana, with Tiberi, Wells and Mantecon each trying to chase back on.

The two leaders held their ground for the remainder of the race, with Fontana and Fumic solidifying their podium spots but content to let their young teammate fight it out for the win. Cooper’s decisive attack came midway through the last lap as he distanced himself on the final time up the asphalt climb. Cooper held and then extended his lead through the rolling and twisty singletrack to win by eleven seconds over Gagne, with Fumic and Fontana preceding Mantecon.

Nash capitalizes

Katerina Nash (Luna Pro Team) took advantage of a mistake by Emily Batty (Trek Factory Racing) to win the HC round of the US Cup series, moving herself into the overall lead. The Czech rider got away when Batty crashed behind her on the fourth lap and never looked back.

“I was unaware of what was going on. I was up front and I got a gap so I assumed there was a problem,” Nash said. “I fully expected Emily to come back but once I got the gap I pinned it all the way until the end. I used my downhill skills and made gravity work for me.”

Batty, winner of the Bonelli Park round, was disappointed to miss out on what looked like a solid chance to repeat, but acknowledged she was outnumbered by teammates Nash, Georgia Gould and Catherine Pendrel.

“It was a total battle out there, trying to sit second wheel,” said Batty. “There were three of them so it would’ve been pretty disappointing if they didn’t get it.”

A fast start lap created a huge gap, which was driven by the Luna Pro Team as Pendrel, Nash and Gould, and Batty set the early pace. After the initial leveling off after the first climb, these front leaders left a large gap to Chloe Woodruff (Team Stan’s NoTubes-Niner) and Larissa Connors (Ridebiker Alliance).

An easing on the second lap of five allowed Connors and Woodruff to rejoin the leaders on the day’s main climb, only for Pendrel to put in a vicious attack, forcing Batty to respond.

Seemingly trying to force Batty to chase, the end of the second lap saw Pendrel continuing her attacks on Batty, with teammate Gould holding on, with Woodruff and Nash chasing further back. Just like on the first lap, the lead group eased up on the climb, allowing the front group to grow back up to eight.

The next two laps resulted in the further solidifying of the front group. Lap three featured a selection made by Gould on the main descent with Batty and Pendrel. Nash clawed her way back to the front group at the end of the third lap only to take the lead of the race on the fourth time up the climb. Another fierce attack by Pendrel was chased down by Batty and you got the sense that the team tactics were taking their toll on the Canadian winner of round one. At the end of the fourth lap, Batty, who was sitting second behind Nash, had some trouble on one of the dusty drops and went down. The crash wasn’t enough to cause any serious damage, but it enabled Nash to get a gap big enough to defend until the finish.

Gould would take the sprint for second ahead of Batty and Pendrel, with Erin Huck (Scott 3 Rox) rounding out the podium just behind in fifth.

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